Howie the Conqueror

Howie Roseman is the king of the hill. He is unquestionably the best general manager in the NFL. Howie has built rosters that went to three Super Bowls and won two of them. If not for a slick field, he might be three for three.

There is no magic formula. The Eagles believe in building their team through the OL and DL. But plenty of teams do that. The Eagles spend aggressively. Plenty of teams do that, even some bad ones. The Eagles do a great job of knowing who to pick and who to pay. That’s the hard part.

One area where Howie is special is relentlessly chasing talent. He is constantly on the hunt for players. Mekhi Becton was signed after the draft. Howie traded for Jahan Dotson on Aug 24. Jack Driscoll was signed in September. Lewis Cine was signed in January. Howie is always looking to upgrade the roster, both short and long term. In the middle of a playoff run, the team signed Cine, who might be a backup safety next year. When a player of interest is available, go get him. Always be building. The odds say Cine won’t pan out, but you never know.

Howie also uses the trade market more aggressively than most GMs. He added impact players like AJ Brown and Darius Slay through trades. Howie moves up and down the board during the draft. He targets key players and goes after them. If there isn’t a player he thinks is good value, he moves down to add future assets.

The Eagles wanted Cooper DeJean and were shocked when he was available in the second round. Howie worked the phones like a madman to get his guy.

Here was Eagles GM Howie Roseman last year desperately working the phones to try to trade up for Cooper Dejean as he surprisingly falls out of the 1st round. They panic as they think the rams traded up for him but ultimately it worked out.
pic.twitter.com/871vQFXpZ7

— Nicky (@NickyScatz) February 10, 2025

When you see Howie’s reaction there you can tell that is a player he coveted. Some will argue that you should move down. The more picks you have, the better your odds of hitting on players. But there is something to be said for aggressively targeting players you feel strongly about. The Eagles wanted DeJean. They gave up picks to go get him. He helped the team have the #1 defense in the league and win the Super Bowl. Those were picks well spent.

One of the keys to the Eagles success is not being risk averse, as they like to say. Take chances. Know that there will be some mistakes. But if there are more hits than misses, the strategy works.

The Eagles traded for CJ Gardner-Johnson back in 2022. He didn’t have a great reputation. They acquired him just before the start of the season, but CJGJ hit the ground running and proved to be a great fit. Isaiah Rodgers was suspended for gambling. The Eagles took a chance on him. Jalen Carter had some issues when he was coming out of Georgia. When he fell in the draft, the Eagles moved up to take him. All three of those just helped the team win a title.

Not all risks involve character. Size can be a risk for some. DeVonta Smith and Nolan Smith lacked ideal size. That really affected Nolan, as he fell to pick 30 instead of going in the Top 15 as some thought he might. There can be medical risks. Josh Sweat fell to the fourth round because there were medical questions about his knee. There are risks with experience/background. Jalyx Hunt played DB at Cornell and then one season as a DE at Houston Baptist. The Eagles spent a third round pick on him. Back in 2018 they spent a late round pick on an Australian guy who had never played football. Jordan Mailata has now been the starting LT in two Super Bowls.

You have to take chances.

Jalen Hurts was a risky pick. The Eagles already had a starting QB in Carson Wentz. He had some injury issues so the Eagles thought spending a high pick on a QB made sense. At the least, Hurts would give them good depth at the most important position. The move went over like a lead balloon. Wentz wasn’t happy about it. Fans hated it. They wanted help for Wentz. Hurts turned out to be a brilliant pick. He’s now a SB champ and has a strong chance to be the best QB in team history.

One word that got mentioned a lot in the last two weeks is deep, as in “The Eagles have a deep, talented roster.” Depth isn’t from luck. It isn’t an accident. Think about what Howie did at ILB. The Eagles had Nakobe Dean returning from 2023. They had Ben VanSumeren coming back. BVS was more of a project they didn’t want to count on him. Howie signed Devin White, Zack Baun, and Oren Burks in free agency. He drafted Jeremiah Trotter Jr. That’s a lot of resources at ILB.

White didn’t pan out and was cut. Baun and Dean were the starters. BVS became a fullback and STer. Burks and Trot were the backups and STers. When Dean got hurt, Burks stepped in and the defense didn’t miss a beat. Depth is critical. Competition is good.

It helps Howie that Jeffrey Lurie is a smart, aggressive owner. Lurie puts his money where his mouth is.

Salary cap dollars in void years (a smart way of circumventing annual limits):

1. PHI: $390.4M
2. SF: $204.1M
10. DET: $52.1M
11. BAL: $50.8M
16. BUF: $33.1M
28. KC: $1.86M

Clark Hunt must spend more aggressively. The Chiefs are in danger of falling way behind in the arms race.

— Adam Best (@Arrowhead_Adam) February 12, 2025

Lurie gives the greenlight to spend big. Howie and his staff know how to structure contracts to maximize cap dollars. That’s how the Eagles are able to field a team with so many stars. All 32 teams have a salary cap to deal with. The Eagles are at the top of the league when it comes to the financial side of  things. A key part of team building in the modern NFL is understanding economics.

You don’t just throw money around. You have to know how to spend it. The Eagles love to look for market inefficiencies. They saw the RB market this past offseason as a place to strike. They went after Saquon Barkley and got him for a reasonable deal. Barkley was a great fit because the Eagles OL and offense helped him to go from star RB to superstar. The Jags gave WR Gabe Davis a slightly better deal than Barkley got. I don’t think I need to tell you which guy had the better year.

I think Howie has been at his best in recent years because the process seems more collaborative. Vic Fangio was a big fan of Jalyx Hunt’s and pushed for Howie to draft him. Fangio was the one who told Howie the Eagles should play Baun at ILB and not as an edge rusher. Howie listened and both moves worked out great.

Howie lets people speak up on draft weekend and make a case for certain players. They identify red star players and then make a hard push to get those guys. That has to make the scouts feel empowered. That is smart. No one person is the ultimate guru. You need multiple reports and opinions as you evaluate players and make plans. Whatever the Eagles have done in recent years, it has worked.

Here is a good article on the building of the current roster.

Philadelphia’s Superpower: Eagles became NFC’s best team through furious, fearless roster renovation, @judybattista writeshttps://t.co/CxkyNzan9x pic.twitter.com/JyJFIeDPOn

— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) February 4, 2025

Part of roster building is also knowing who to let go. The Eagles have lost some good players in recent years.

DT Javon Hargrave
OG Isaac Seumalo
LB TJ Edwards
LB Kyzir White
S Marcus Epps
S CJ Gardner-Johnson

You can’t keep everyone. You have to let some players walk and take chances on young or cheap replacements for them. The Eagles did that at LB in 2023 and it hurt them. Not all moves are going to work. Not all chances are going to pan out. Howie made sure he got LB fixed this time around.

Teams are going to study what the Eagles did. Can they copy it? Some parts, yes. But it took Howie a long time to learn these lessons and to develop these ideas. It also takes a good scouting staff and a good coaching staff. All the talent in the world doesn’t do you any good if the coaches don’t embrace the players and know how to use them.

This team was Howie Roseman’s masterpiece. The most loaded Eagles team of my lifetime in terms of pure talent.

Roseman has now built two championship teams with two different quarterbacks and two different head coaches.

Looking like a HOF resume.

— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) February 10, 2025

Howie in Canton? That is a very real possibility. And he’s not done yet.

Always be building.

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